No this isn't a thread to bash it actually it's the opposite. I'm hosting a few christmas events at my house this year and so i'm actually on the lookout for some good christmas albums.

So far i've found a couple gems as follows:

James Brown - Funky christmas. really cool. most songs are in typical james brown fashion but sung about christmas (i.e. Santa Claus go straight to the ghetto) and a couple of classic christmas song covers.

Emmylou Harris - Light in the stable. I like old school country (that lends itself to soul/gospel music) so i like this. Good blend of traditional covers and other christmassy stuff. I think Neil Young is on this somewhere.

She and HIm christmas album. Man this one is really good. It's that actress Zooey Deshanel who sings and she's awesome. definitely a vintage feel. some songs sound rockabillyish which i like. it feels a bit 'hipster', but it's really good regardless.

Soul Christmas. This one is probably the best one. It came out in the 60s and has classic soul rnb guys on it like otis redding, solomon burke, carla thomas, etc. Also booker t and the mg's do a number of wicked christmas carol covers. every song on this is GREAT for a christmas party kind of thing.

You guys have any christmas albums that you bust out on the 25th each year?

Apparently there's a death row records christmas album. I've never heard it, but i must say i'm intrigued.